


Gap

by setosdarkness



Series: OTP Collection - JuHaku [33]
Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: JuHaku Week, M/M, Prompt: Childhood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-16
Updated: 2015-02-16
Packaged: 2018-03-13 07:45:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3373430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/setosdarkness/pseuds/setosdarkness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You're going to be my bride! Just you wait until I grow up!" </p>
<p>…There are so many things wrong with that statement, but Hakuryuu would rather start with the fact that he's a guy and therefore cannot be a bride. Oh and that Judar is just a kid that he's supposed to be baby-sitting. </p>
<p>[age difference AU]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gap

**Author's Note:**

> Age Difference AU is dedicated to the ever-lovely zukiiiiii :D

•••

"You're gonna be my bride when I grow up!"

The first few times that Judar has proclaimed such words, Hakuryuu actually reacted, because there are so many things wrong with that statement. Not only is he not a girl, and therefore not bride material, but there's an almost seven-year gap between them.

The fact that he never thinks about the fact that he dislikes Judar is lost on him.

"Yes, yes, please eat your vegetables, Judar."

Hakuryuu reasons that Judar is just latching on to the person who provides him the most attention, never mind that it's because he's a babysitter paid a great sum of money so that he can painstakingly endure the hours of terror that can only be brought upon by a spoiled brat who _knows_ that he's going to get his way, if not because of his wealth, but also because of his beguiling face.

"Feed me, Hakuryuu!" The bratty kid blinks his huge, red eyes at him, widening his eyes on purpose so that he'll look more innocent. It doesn't work, because Hakuryuu's already been baby-sitting this kid for a year now. He's long known that there's _nothing_ innocent with Judar. "Ple _aaaaa_ se?"

Hakuryuu's not really that inconvenienced by spoon-feeding Judar, because this helps make sure that the other doesn't make a bigger mess. But then again, he really can't resist…

" _Fine_ ," he makes sure to sound as exasperated as possible, exhaling loudly, "though I wonder what kind of guy makes their future bride slave over him…"

"On second thought!" Lightning-fast, Judar snatches the spoon away from Hakuryuu's hands, oblivious to his knowing smirk. "I'm gonna feed myself! Because I'm inde-de-dependent! And I don't bully my bride!"

"That's so nice of you, Judar," Hakuryuu coos in an absolutely deadpan voice, though his lack of enthusiasm and sweetness has never stopped Judar from granting him an overly affectionate smile.

The fact that he's really fond of Judar, to the point of enduring the brat's antics when all of his previous babysitters didn't even last an hour, is lost on him.

•••

"Hey, praise me, Hakuryuu!"

Hakuryuu rolls his eyes at the other's enthusiastic prodding, coupled with the other's limbs circling and winding around his hips, trapping him with arms that are getting more toned by the day, due to the other's recent craze with exercises, despite the long hours of whining about how sweating is not in his agenda.

"Why?"

"W-Why?" Judar echoes, taken aback by the blunt question, so spoiled that nobody even questions his unreasonable requests. That's all the more a good reason to not indulge the other so thoroughly when it comes to these things. "B- _Because_! Just because!"

Hakuryuu chuckles fondly, despite his resolve not to. He doesn't like spoiling Judar – goodness knows that everybody else does it enough – but there are times that he's completely helpless to resist. The fact that this kind of fondness can be dangerous escapes him. Hakuryuu ruffles the top of Judar's hair, chuckling even more at the ineffective attempts to brush his hands off.

"You should give me a better reason for that, Judar."

"…I… I finished my homework!"

"Didn't you just steal Kougyoku's?" Hakuryuu remembers earlier in the day, about poor Kougyoku crying about how mean Judar is for stealing her homework and returning it with her doodles about their charismatic (if a bit uncomfortably _too charismatic_ ) teacher, Sinbad, crossed out with pictures depicting her as a pig and Sinbad as a devil with horns.

"I didn't _steal_ it," Judar says so matter-of-factly that it's almost enough to fool Hakuryuu into believing the other, if he didn't know any better. "I _returned_ it, after all."

"I'm not sure I should praise someone like that," Hakuryuu quips as innocently as he can, smile tugging at his lips at the warring emotions of Judar's face, obviously torn between wanting to be so proud of his mischievous deeds and wanting to be praised by his babysitter that's now more like a friendly upperclassman.

"I'll go apologize to Kougyoku," Judar says very loudly, enunciating the words slowly, as though he's just saying that for Hakuryuu's sake.

"You go and do that."

"And then you'll praise me lots after?"

"We'll see."

The fact that Hakuryuu coos in such an absolutely deadpan voice, has never stopped Judar from granting him an overly affectionate smile in return, before pouncing to his feet and yelling for Kougyoku to show herself so she can get the honor of being apologized to.

The fact that he's really fond of Judar despite the other's antics, even when teens his age are more concerned with getting along with their peers and flirting with anyone and everyone, is lost on him.

•••

"But I want you to be my daaaaate!"

Hakuryuu heaves a long-suffering sigh as he ponders about the very real possibility of Judar biting his leg should he try to skip the other's fallen form, wriggling and rolling around in the foyer, blocking his way out of Judar's home.

"I'm not even from your high school," Hakuryuu tries to reason, though there's a nagging thought at the back of his head that arguing with Judar when he's like this is futile. "Didn't you say you have ten invitations to the prom?"

" _Thirteen_ ," Judar corrects, pouting up at him. Due to having years of experience in building up an armor against that look, Hakuryuu barely flinches when Judar sticks out his lower lip at him. Recently, there's been an insistent thought that Judar is growing more and more attractive, undoubtedly attracting hordes of his classmates oohing and aahing at his appearance. "But I don't want them!!!"

The fact that irritation or nonchalance don't even rank in Hakuryuu's initial reactions to Judar's persistence in having him attend the prom as the other's date, is lost on him.

"You should enjoy it with your peers."

Hakuryuu leans against the foyer's wall, arms crossed over his chest. He feels rather tired, mostly because it's unfair that he has to do all this reasoning when he actually, truly doesn't mind going with Judar. He's already been teased back and forth by Alibaba and Aladdin regarding his _inappropriate_ attachment towards this kid who should be nobody but just someone he used to babysit from a few doors away. His only consolation is that Morgiana don't really say much about these inappropriate feelings—but he has a feeling that she would wrestle him soon into just accepting _this_.

"Ugh, _fine_ ," Judar finally says, after a few more moments of rolling around and messing his hair up. Hakuryuu raises an eyebrow, honestly surprised that the other acquiesced. Not that Judar has actually moved away and stopped blocking Hakuryuu from leaving. "But you gotta promise me something!"

Ah, figures.

Still, Hakuryuu figures that it wouldn't hurt to listen to Judar's probably-going-to-be-impossible request. He shrugs, reaching out a hand to pull Judar up.

Judar tugs at his fingers, holding them tightly. "You're gonna be my bride when I grow up, okay, Hakuryuu!"

While it's been quite some time since Judar has proclaimed those words, if only because most kids learn that growing up don't always mean that they'll get what they want—if Judar even really wants him.

…not that he really wants Judar too.

Hakuryuu releases a breath, sighing once more.

"Yes, yes, please get out of the way, Judar."

The fact that he didn't really reject Judar, never has, is slowly becoming clearer to him.

•••

"Ehhhhhh, is this what I think this is, Hakuryuu?!"

He tries to shrug casually, but finds that he cannot, if only because of the heavy weight draped over his body, with Judar jumping to his arms, forcing him to carry the other, despite Judar being the heavier and taller of them now. Judar practically ran to his arms, an excessively affectionate reaction that he cannot claim to be entirely unexpected. Judar's legs are wrapped around his waist, something that prompts Hakuryuu to think that Judar probably looks like a monstrous black koala clinging to a poor eucalyptus stem.

"…You've gotten heavy, Judar."

It's not like it's been too long since they last saw each other, though with Hakuryuu's work and Judar's heavy courseload during his final year, they haven't seen each other as much as they both would like. It's especially hard since it's not like there's an official _relationship_ tying the two of them into seeing each other often, aside from being overly friendly neighbors.

"I've been stress-eating because of finals," Judar quips back, but he doesn't relinquish his hold on Hakuryuu, content on letting him bear the brunt of his weight. "But that doesn't matter as you're finally here!!!"

Hakuryuu doesn't say anything cheesy like 'I've always been here' or anything to that effect, though the fact that he even thinks of that is already embarrassing enough. He ducks his head and tucks it into the space between Judar's neck and right shoulder, presses their flushed cheeks together. Judar's body is very warm and it's almost enough to make him forget about the catcalls and _talks_ that Alibaba and Aladdin provided him about how to make Judar feel just right—something that he's mortified to hear from the innocent-looking Aladdin and even more weirded out to hear from the forever-single Alibaba.

"Get off me so we can get going," Hakuryuu whispers in a low voice, knowing that Judar will pick his words up. As fulfilling this kind of hugging may be, he's not about to let them miss the flight he has booked to one of the resorts that Judar has fantasized about very loudly since a couple of years back.

Hakuryuu has taken the liberty of preparing the suitcase for Judar, sneaking into the other's house without any real effort because the rest of the occupants of the household all welcome Hakuryuu's plan to whisk Judar away to a vacation to celebrate the other's graduation from college. While Hakuryuu's family is more reserved about the fact that Hakuryuu's getting involved with someone more than just a few years younger than him, it's not like Yuu, Ren or Hakuei have protested about his plans for this trip. A bit disturbingly, his mother cried tears of joy when she learned about this plan of his.

"But why a vacation?" Judar asks as he finally untangles his limbs from Hakuryuu, though he still stands close enough that he's almost standing on Hakuryuu's toes.

Hakuryuu takes a deep breath, remembering the _days_ leading up to today, the countless rehearsals that Alibaba has subjected him to, so he can say the rehearsed-to-death line: "Since you want me to be your bride, this is going to be our honeymoon."

It's been rehearsed countless of times, but Hakuryuu still stumbles upon a word or two, growing more and more flustered at the sight of Judar's wide-eyed happiness. They're now both consenting, fully-grown adults (even if Judar's incredibly childish), so it's not like they're doing anything wrong. Hakuryuu isn't embarrassed of something like that, though he can't quite deny that he still embarrassingly flushes over smiles and touches doled out by Judar.

"I knew you'd finally give in!" Judar yells, incredibly inappropriately given that Hakuryuu practically declared his confession. "I'm so happy, Hakuryuu!"

There's still a bit of gap between the two of them, but he knows that it will surely close quickly.

The fact that he doesn't even protest when Judar tugs his face down so he can kiss his 'bride' properly isn't lost on him.

"…Yes, yes."

Hakuryuu's smiling though, as he clasps Judar's hands in his own as they make their way towards the waiting cab, ready to drive them both to their so-called honeymoon.

There's no wedding at all, but just thinking all the times the two of them have been together over the years is enough to close the gap between them.

••• **end**


End file.
